Getting Away With Murder
by Sarah1281
Summary: Caelavel Tabris had never expected that a year after taking the money and walking away, nobody would realize what she and Soris had done. Everything had gone so wrong...Even if no one else knew enough to blame her, she still shouldn't have come back.


Getting Away With Murder

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Age.

Caelavel Tabris would have been quite content to never return to the Alienage she had been born into and that she had called home for nearly eighteen years. Unfortunately, Queen Anora had been quite insistent that they go check out the 'strange occurrences' taking place there. It was clear that Anora knew exactly what they were supposed to find but, for whatever reason, she refused to tell them anything about it, only that it was important. Needless to say, being asked – ordered, really – to return to the Alienage for such a vague reason was enough to seriously annoy Caelavel and make her resent Anora, particularly after she had been willing to go to Fort Drakon to protect the Queen from her father.

While Caelavel would never come right out and admit it, she was mildly terrified at the prospect of returning to the place of her birth. The day of the wedding she'd never even wanted to have in the first place had ended badly and had irrevocably severed her connection to the Alienage. It was no longer home after what she had done, could _never_ be home and Caelavel was just practical enough to admit it.

As a Warden, she was far removed from the docile servant she'd been expected to be in the Alienage and, given that she had no ties anyway, she didn't think it was…prudent to advertise where she had come from. It was embarrassment, really, but she didn't want those that looked to her to save them all from the Blight to see the squalor that she had come from. They all knew she had come from an Alienage as she was an elf who wasn't Dalish or a mage. Maybe that sense of shame wasn't becoming of a Warden but these people weren't the first who had looked to her to save them and if she failed then it wouldn't be the first time.

She hadn't wanted to go at all but since that wasn't an option, she had wanted to go in alone for fear of what the others might learn about her. Alistair refused to let her, though, since he was also a Grey Warden and there had been riots and purges recently. Zevran had also insisted that he be allowed to go as, being an elf, he would stand out less than any of her other companions. And they _were_ companions rather than friends because as much as they had tried to get close to her, she seemed incapable of letting them. She couldn't forget what had happened to the last people she had called friend.

Alistair tapped one of the ever-present reminders that the humans would kill any elf that they happened to catch with a weapon. "We're not here to antagonize anyone and both of you are elves so I was wondering-"

"The next words out of your mouth better not be a suggestion that we hand our weapons over to you or so help me I will cut you," Caelavel threatened.

"But the guards might have a problem with you and Zevran being armed," Alistair pointed out.

"The guards will just have to sodding deal," Caelavel said darkly. "I am seriously not in the mood to indulge them."

"I, too, would be more comfortable keeping my weapons," Zevran agreed. "Of course, as I lack a hefty weapon mine are easier to hide. They'll never even know I have them."

"I suppose that's something," Alistair said reluctantly. "I'm not going to try and force you to give me your weapons – mostly because I think that would end very badly for me – but let's try to be careful, okay?"

"Fine," Caelavel said shortly. She looked around and her eyes landed on a section of wall that had a loose stone. She hadn't exactly had very much time to think of a hiding place. Would it still be there? Hesitantly, she reached out a hand and removed the stone. The bag was still in there. Shakily, she grabbed it and replaced the stone.

"What do you have there?" Alistair asked curiously. His eyes widened when he saw what it was. "Maker's breath, that's a lot of sovereigns. I never expected to see it in an Alienage given how poor they are…"

"Yes, well, it was money that wasn't easy to come by," Caelavel said stiffly. What did it mean that it was still there? Had Soris not thought to come get it? He had seen her hide it, right? Was he okay?

"That sounds like quite a story," Zevran noted. Upon seeing the look on her face, he quickly added, "But now's not really the time."

The group of three continued further into the Alienage. They saw several ill elves languishing in the street but there was really nothing that could be done for them. In the center of the Alienage there was a building that hadn't been there the last time Caelavel had been in Denerim. Humans dressed like Tevinter mages were standing around observing a frenzied crowd of desperate elves.

"I'm going to take a wild guess that _this_ is where the source of all the discontent is," Alistair said dryly. "Maybe we should wait until things get less hectic? Is there anyone else we could ask to see if they know what's going on?"

"I…there might be," Caelavel admitted hesitantly. She didn't want to go back but if it meant that she could get this over with sooner then she would just have to put up with whatever well-earned words her family had for her. "I can take you to my father's house. He'll probably know something."

Silently, she led the way to the place she had grown up in. It had always been a happy home, even once her mother had died. Something told her she would find no more joy within these walls. "Maybe…" she started to say. Zevran and Alistair turned to look at her. "Maybe you should let me go in first. I haven't seen him in quite awhile and-"

"You don't want us to get in the way of your family reunion?" Zevran supplied. "I understand completely."

"So do I," Alistair assured her. "I mean, I know I wanted you there for when I was going to talk to Goldanna but that was hardly usual and I hadn't even met her before, so…we'll be right out here trying not to look out of place if you need us."

"You are _always_ going to look out of place in an Alienage," Zevran pointed out.

"Well, we'll try not to look out of place enough to attract the attention of a guard then," Alistair amended.

Caelavel nodded at them, closed her eyes, and then opened the door and stepped inside.

There was a sharp intake of breath. "Cousin?"

Caelavel turned to see Soris staring at her incredulously. "So how bad is it?"

Soris looked confused for a moment. "How bad is what? Oh…you mean after you left?"

Caelavel nodded. "I haven't really been able to stop thinking about it. Vaughan lied. I heard about the riots and the purges."

"The purges came after he died," Soris corrected.

"I killed him myself," Caelavel announced. "Just yesterday, in fact. Howe had him locked up in his dungeon."

"Still, I suppose he did keep that part of the deal," Soris told her. "The riots were because you were the only one to come back."

Caelavel froze. "What do you _mean_ I was the only one to come back?"

"Just what I said," Soris said, looking like a man twice his age. "No one came back. Not Valora, not Shianni, not _anybody_. Just you."

"So they're…" she couldn't say it.

"Dead?" Soris asked harshly. "Dear Maker, I hope so. That sounds horrible, I know but just think of the alternative. They've been gone for over a year…"

Caelavel shuddered, feeling more horrified by the minute. "But…he said that he'd return them 'a little worse for the wear' in the morning. If he kept his word about not leading a purge then why not keep it about that?"

"I don't know, Cousin," Soris answered quietly. "I suppose we should have expected it. They had already managed to kill one before I could get to you even."

"This is all my fault," Caelavel cried out.

Soris shook his head. "No, it's not."

"How can you say that?" Caelavel demanded. "I was the one who took the money, I was the one who just left her there after she begged me to take her home! How is this not my fault?"

"I didn't say you weren't to blame," Soris pointed out. "Just that it wasn't _all_ your fault. I was there, too, after all and I went along with it. Not to mention that pig Vaughan and his men who actually did what we allowed to happen."

"You didn't touch the money," Caelavel said, pulling the bag out of her pack and holding it out to Soris.

"I don't want it," Soris said, unable to even look at it. "It's more money than I've ever seen but…it wasn't worth it. It cost too much."

"Well I don't want it, either," Caelavel said. She tossed it over onto the table. "And what's more, you need it and I don't. I have…I have a ridiculous amount of money. My fellow Warden? He found out he had a half-sister out there and even though she was very rude we still thought nothing of giving her nearly half of that. I won't touch that money and I don't need it anyway. You do."

Soris just shook his head again. "You should have just left it there. Maybe someone more deserving could have found it."

Caelavel wasn't quite sure what to say to that. As horrified as she was, she was also fairly certain that she was in shock. She had known what she had done but she hadn't expected everyone she had walked away from to _die_ while Soris had been living with that knowledge for over a year now. "I'm actually surprised to find you here. Why in the world would my dad have let you stay here considering…" she trailed off. He knew what she meant.

Soris laughed bitterly. "Oh why wouldn't he? He feels just terrible for me, you know. They all do. I tried so damn hard to save everyone but only managed to bring back my cousin and it cost me her betrothed to do it. That's just as many deaths as if I had never bothered to go in the first place although admittedly one less rape. One less rape **victim** I should say because who knows who long they kept going."

"Are you saying…" Caelavel couldn't believe it. "Do they not _know_?"

"How could they know?" Soris countered. "Neither of us mentioned it when we came back and no one else made it back at all. Vaughan, his friends, the guards, Shianni, and us were the only ones who knew. Vaughan and Shianni are dead and you know that the others wouldn't waste their breath." He paused. "It almost makes it worse, you know. Their sympathy. I don't deserve it but I'm too much of a coward to tell them the truth. I lost everything because of my own actions and I can't stand to have the whole Alienage turn against me, too."

"Where's my father?" Caelavel asked quietly. She didn't think she wanted to see him because if he tried to console her on what happened then she was afraid that she might break but this was his house and so the longer she stayed here the more likely it was that she would run into him. He'd never understand if she started to avoid him and she didn't want to hurt him anymore than she already had. She knew, much as Soris did, that he could _never_ know the truth or it would destroy him. Not to mention that she would then have to face his crushing disappointment and his wondering where he and her mother had gone wrong.

Soris looked away and said nothing.

Caelavel's heart started to race. "Soris, where is he?"

"I don't know," Soris admitted. "He said he was going to the hospice a few days ago but he never came back. He _might_ just be under quarantine I have a really bad feeling about this. If Shianni were here then I just know she'd be out there trying to get everyone to go home."

"They wouldn't listen," Caelavel replied. "They never did."

The pair stood there in silence for a few moments before Caelavel started to feel that the whole thing was absolutely unbearable. "I…I have to go. It was good seeing you," she said vaguely as she practically flew to the door. "I'll try and find out what happened to my father."

What was almost worse than the jeers and hatred she had expected was the fact that she had essentially sold her cousin and her friends to Vaughan for forty sodding sovereign that was, quite frankly, a pittance to her nowadays and had _gotten away with it_.

She never should have come back.

Note: So when I decided to have Shianni and everyone else dying after you take the bribe so no one can tell what you did, I realized I'd need a new Warden as I wouldn't want to ruin the CE I already have. And in case it's not clear, part of it was for the money and part of it was terror that Vaughan's death really would cause a purge of the Alienage…which Howe did anyway.

Review Please!


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